The Hockey News

FANS OF DRAFT PREVIEW will recall the 2013 edition, when we put Seth Jones on the cover spinning a puck on his fingertip. The sell was “Hoopster’s Son Slam Dunk To Go No. 1.” But Nathan MacKinnon went first overall to Colorado that summer. Jones went fourth to Nashville. Both are excellent players today, but hey, sometimes a great cover doesn’t materialize as completely prescient. Something similar happened in 1981-82. Brian Bellows had spent the previous two years pre-ordained by scouts to be the first overall pick in 1982. We even put him on the cover that Christmas, saying every NHL team would like to receive him under their tree. Turned out he went second behind Gord Kluzak. (See pg. 94 for a 40-year rewind of that 1982 draft.) So what happens…

GEOFF MOLSON, THE PART-OWNER and CEO of the Montreal Canadiens, whose team’s selection in the first round in last year’s draft was Logan Mailloux, which caused Gary Bettman to tell Steve Kouleas: “I was stunned. Surprised wouldn’t begin to explain my reaction. I’m a dad of two daughters, I have four granddaughters. What was done was horrific.” Had I been the chairman of the Montreal Canadiens, I would have asked Molson to resign as CEO, as the CEO is ultimately responsible for everything that goes on at a company whether or not he gave the green light on the pick. Molson and then-GM Marc Bergevin took a great deal of heat from the public for their seemingly careless regard for abuse of women by men. Molson the CEO is still there.…

EACH YEAR, AS THE NHL draft approaches, player agent Dan Milstein spends innumerable hours preparing his clients for the rigors of all that goes into the NHL’s annual prospect call. In some cases, Milstein dedicates time to running through potential interview questions, even focusing on pandemic-era minutiae such as maintaining video-call eye contact. In others, the work is more practical. A mid-range prospect can turn heads with a standout showing at the scouting combine, so Milstein won’t shy away from allocating resources to assist if there’s an opportunity for off-ice work that can benefit a client’s stock. But this year, Milstein has found himself preparing a specific subset of his clients – his draft-eligible Russians – for something entirely different: the distinct possibility the Russian invasion of and ongoing war with Ukraine…

KAMLOOPS BLAZERS >2021-22 A GREAT DESIGN FOR a charitable cause is often the perfect recipe for a special jersey, and the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers hit the mark with their Indigenous Night sweater. Designed by Laura and Emma Saul of the local First Nations Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc, the crest features the story of Coyote and Bear, with Coyote’s tail taking the place of the flame in Kamloops’ famed ‘B’ logo. It’s an excellent design that takes a great logo and puts a cool new spin on it. The jerseys, which were auctioned off for a Tk’emlúps te Secwépemc charity, also feature an ‘Every Child Matters’ logo on the front and back.…

PLAY-BY-PLAY ANNOUNCERS ALMOST NEVER get featured on hockey cards, despite being fan favorites. In fact, longtime Chicago Blackhawks announcer Pat Foley – a recipient of the Foster Hewitt Memorial Award in 2014 – did not get his own card until after leaving the team. Foley was the radio and TV voice of the Blackhawks from 1980 to 2006 but was never included in any of the team’s annual card sets. He was controversially fired by the Hawks in 2006, then went on to call games for the AHL’s Chicago Wolves for the next two years. The Wolves were sure to include the popular figure in their 2006-07 team set. Foley returned as the TV play-by-play voice of the Blackhawks in 2008 and worked their games for the next 14 years…

THE SCHOOL OF THOUGHT for NHL teams going into the draft can be simplified this way: get a future NHL player with your first-round pick – the higher the selection, the higher the ceiling. Then, ideally, one, maybe two, of your other picks in Rounds 2 through 7 can make the grade further down the depth chart. In Rounds 2 and 3, the odds are far less than 50-50 that you’ll hit on a future NHL regular. By Rounds 5, 6 and 7, the success rate is less than 10 percent that you’ll find a true contributor. But every team finds these late-round gems from time to time. And some of them become legitimate NHL stars. Take the 2015 draft, for example. All the focus was on Connor McDavid at the top…